BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Buffalo Bills fired coach Sean McDermott on Monday, less than 48 hours after the team lost an overtime playoff game to the Denver Broncos.
Team owner Terry Pegula released a statement confirming the coaching change. Earlier Monday, McDermott’s firing was reported by several news outlets, including The New York Times, the Buffalo News and The Associated Press, each citing anonymous sources.
McDermott’s dismissal was also confirmed by the coach’s agent, Bob LaMonte, to NFL analyst Vic Carucci, WGRZ reported.
Peruga said in a statement that McDermott helped “change the mindset” of the Bills and “was instrumental in the Bills becoming a perennial playoff team.”
“Sean has done an admiral (sic) job of leading our football team for the last 9 seasons,” Pegula said. “But I feel we are in need of a new structure within our leadership to give this organization the best opportunity to take our team to the next level.
“We owe that to our players and the Bills Mafia.”McDermott, 51, compiled a 98-50 regular-season record and an 8-8 postseason mark during his nine seasons in Buffalo. But even with franchise quarterback Josh Allen, the Bills were unable to advance to the Super Bowl.
— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) January 19, 2026
Buffalo had reached the AFC divisional round for six consecutive seasons, and advanced to the conference championship game twice. The Bills lost to the Kansas City Chiefs in both AFC Championship Games.
The team’s latest disappointment was a 33-30 defeat to the top-seeded Broncos in Denver during the AFC divisional playoffs on Saturday.
McDermott’s 98 regular-season victories are second in franchise history to Marv Levy, who won 112 games in 12 seasons and guided the Bills to four consecutive Super Bowls during the early 1990s.
Under McDermott, the Bills won five consecutive AFC East titles from 2020 to 2024; Buffalo finished second to the New England Patriots this season.
Allen has the most playoff wins (eight) and starts (15) by any quarterback without a Super Bowl start, ESPN reported.
McDermott was the Philadelphia Eagles’ defensive coordinator in 2009 and 2010 and held the same position with the Carolina Panthers from 2011 to 2016.
McDermott’s dismissal creates eight openings for NFL coaching jobs. In addition to Buffalo, jobs are available in Arizona, Baltimore, Cleveland, Las Vegas, Miami, Pittsburgh and Tennessee.
Over the weekend, the New York Giants hired John Harbaugh as coach, while the Atlanta Falcons tapped Kevin Stefanski to lead the team. Harbaugh previously coached 18 seasons for the Baltimore Ravens, while Stefnaski was the Cleveland Browns’ head coach for six seasons.
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